The Future of Scholarly Writing : Critical Interventions

This stimulating collection is the first to take on the issue of form and what it means to the future of scholarly writing. A wide range of distinguished scholars from fields including law, literature, and anthropology shed light on the ways scholars can write for different publics and still adhere to the standards of quality scholarship.

Recent developments in the American academy - the growing emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, the attention on public scholarship, and the potential for alternate forms of communication created by new media technologies - have put pressure on how scholars write. Within this shifting landscape of institutional demands and professional expectations, The Future of Scholarly Writing brings together a group of distinguished scholars from across the contemporary university to discuss the importance of form in their work. Scholarly work is commonly discussed in terms of its content, not its form. In contrast, this book makes a strong case that both are consequential and critical. Drawing on their experience as authorities in their fields, the authors describe the conventions of academic presentation in their disciplines, discuss their usefulness, and explain when and why they decided to write differently. As they weigh the costs and benefits of writing within the framework of discipline-based conventions they provide insight into they ways in which scholars can write for different publics while adhering to the rules that define good scholarship. This much-needed book combines cutting-edge scholarship with experimental writing methodologies to deepen the scholarly discourse.